Gleanings on 
the Yoikshire. 
(49) THE BIRD WORLD. 
.size; but I will refer to this later on. 
The next division carries 20 points, 
namely, position. Attitude erect, with 
fearless carriage; head, neck, back, and 
.tail in straight line. Feather also car- 
.ries 20 points. Thus you see attitude 
.or position, and feather carry almost 
half of the total number of points, and 
five more than shape. Then, to make 
up the total, we have colour 5, condi¬ 
tion 10. 
The Chief Points in Breeding. 
You will see from this that the chief 
things to be aimed at when breeding 
Yorkshires for exhibition purposes are 
position, feather, and correct shape. 
The coloured plates which have been 
issued with the special numbers of Cage 
Birds will give a good idea of the 
:shape that a Yorkshire should be. 
During last show season I endeavoured 
to carry in my mind’s eye the plate de¬ 
picting the three champions of the pre¬ 
vious season, and have compared the 
Birds I have seen winning in this district 
with them, and I am bound to confess 
that, with few exceptions, they are of 
.a very different type to these three. 
The Wedge Shape Needed. 
Very few of them have that fine, long- 
drawn, wedge-shape about them. Most 
of them were longer, but we cannot be 
sure that the picture shows the actual 
length of the birds, for the artist had to 
get three birds into a certain space, and 
in order to get all three shown to advan¬ 
tage may have reduced the actual size. 
You will notice how each of these birds 
is particularly neat in the head, with 
round, well placed eye; the neck is well 
filled in, showing just the slightest sign 
-of indentation; there is no prominent 
rounding of the breast; if we take a 
line from shoulder to tip of tail, and 
from breast to tail tip, we have a 
gradual and even tapering of the body, 
thus forming a finely-shaped wedge. 
This is the side view; if we could see 
the birds from behind we should see the 
same wedge-shape running from each 
shoulder to tip of tail. Thus you might 
compare the bird’s body to an elongated 
funnel. Now we come to the legs. 
The thighs must show nicely, and be 
well covered with fine feather, the legs 
be of a good length, yet not too long to 
make the birds have a stilty look. The 
feet should grip the perch firmly, and 
the birds stand and look at you as much 
as to say “ Aren’t we beauties ? ” I 
think these coloured plates by Mr. Nor¬ 
man, which have been issued in Cage 
Birds from time to time, are most help¬ 
ful to us who are so isolated from the 
leading breeders and exhibitors, as they 
show us the type of bird we want to aim 
for, and whether we are buying or pair¬ 
ing we want to keep our ideal before us. 
A Question of Opinion. 
To be successful it is necessary to 
have the true ideal before us. This is 
sometimes a difficult matter, especially 
when we see various judges choosing 
different types of birds. I suppose pub¬ 
lic opinion and judges’ opinions are 
liable to variation at times. We cannot 
all have the same ideal, but I do think 
our judges should endeavour to come to 
some arrangement amongst themselves 
as to what is the correct type—the true 
ideal. Could they not have a conclave 
amongst themselves, and decide finally 
these vexed questions ? At one show 
last season a very prominent firm of 
Yorkshire exhibitors got no higher than 
V.H.C.; yet when they go to the Palace 
they practically sweep the deck. 
A Judge's Opinion. 
We have the authority of one judge— 
and that a very prominent one, too—that 
if he were judging where Union 
patronage was given he could not 
give a prize to a bird which 
exceeded 6 3 ^ in. in length; but 
if judging at a show which was not 
held under Union rules, and all other 
things being equal, he would award 
that bird first, because length was the 
most difficult thing to obtain. It is 
quite possible that length may be the 
most difficult thing to obtain, but still, 
the Union controls the greater part of 
the breeders of Yorkshires, and they are 
not trying to breed for length, but for 
